Dear Chamber Member,

I hope you, your families and colleagues are keeping safe and well.

While everybody is challenged with the ongoing restrictions and the move towards reopening schools and childcare is welcome, overall the announcement yesterday from Government does not provide enough clarity on sectoral reopening timelines. As we face another extension to restrictions, more precise communications and metric oriented milestones are required by businesses of every sector, size and composition. We cannot underestimate the need for certainty, and clarity of process for the businesses working relentlessly to support their valued employees and suppliers in this extremely challenging environment.

The extension of COVID supports must continue far beyond June as it is now clear the pandemic impact will extend beyond this date. While the current extension offers some relief to those affected, the qualifying criteria still mean that many businesses are left without adequate support. While we welcomed Government's response previously with the development of the Business Aid Scheme, it is essential that it is rapidly deployed as a first step in this matter.
 
The vaccination targets outlined by An Taoiseach need to be pursued with relentless determination. Every step of progress made in protecting our population will in turn help to protect our economy and competitive global standing. Nothing short of excellence in execution is now required and we continue to look ahead, to plan for recovery and work on your behalf to ensure that the structures are in place to protect the agility of our economy and business community.

Yesterday's positive announcement by Microchip Technology of a €20m development centre, creating 60 jobs in the next 3 years and 200 over 7 years provides another strong validation of the talent pool in Cork and the competitive edge that this creates for our growing city region. Moving from the pandemic there is strong potential for momentum in advanced technology innovation and supply chain resilience throughout Europe, and Cork is ideally placed with an established commercial track record, and deep educational collaboration in institutions such as the Tyndall, MTU, and UCC.

On Monday we welcomed the team from the IDA to present their new strategy 2021-2024 'Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth' to our Board of Directors. The strategy sets out the organisation's sustainable growth ambitions to attract long term investors that will be transformative in for our region.

We encourage businesses to remain vigilant and continue to work from home where possible. As ever, please be in touch with your observations and thoughts which help inform our advocacy. You can contact me directly on 087-9471858 or by e-mail HERE.

I hope to welcome you to one of our upcoming online events soon, and in the meantime stay safe.

Conor Healy

CEO